Percy
by MadLuddite
Summary: Long after a century of war, a lonely father stumbles upon the remains of a certain blue robot.
1. Chapter 1

Journal of Mr. Dave Johnson

March 18, 21XX

I can't believe it. He was only 11 years old, and now he's gone. He was my only son. I had spent all those years taking care of him, trying to be a competent and caring father. All it takes is one small mistake, one minor slip, and now, his sapience is snuffed out.

My sadness will never end. I still hear his voice, his innocent questions and his precocious ideas. I still remember what it was like to comfort him when he was having trouble at school. He was like a smaller version of me. Now, he's nothing. Only dust.

June 13, 21XX

It is with great happiness and joy that I report this finding. While searching the southern ruins this morning, I happened upon the most curious thing. Lying against a tall stone structure, and covered in moss and vines, was a small machine left over from before the War. It looked like a child, between 10 and 12 years old. It is covered in a tough, flexible material that looks and feels somewhat like metal. Its face looks lifelike, but seems to be rubber.

I do not yet have the mean to activate him, but I will take him to the village tinker. Could this robot fill the void that my son left? I hope that I can get him programmed so that he's roughly Percy's age. It will be as if nothing ever happened.

June 18, 21XX

Thankfully, Ivan was willing to look at him. It took 30 minutes with the plasma torch to get his battery case open. His batteries were a little rusted, but only superficially. Everything else looks fine, although he is still very filthy and rusty. Ivan said that he'll try to find out how to power him on tonight. I dearly hope that he has some life left in him. I'm willing to go to the ends of the earth to salvage working batteries if I have to.

He politely but firmly insisted that I leave, so I have no choice. He is, after all, doing me a favor.

June 19, 21XX

It's truly a miracle. While Ivan was working with him, suddenly, the robot's eyes sprang open. He looked at me. His mouth and limbs moved. Stiffly, of course, due to the rust, but he's alive.

He asked "where am I?" He seems fully self-aware, but to have little or no memory of his previous life. Perhaps he was new before the War, and had never been activated before. He seemed fascinated by the current state of affairs, and I answered question after question while the tinker scraped and burned away to get him into working order.

I will give Ivan as much scrap metal and as many trinkets as it will take to get him to restore Percy. From now on, raising him will be my life's goal.

June 28, 21XX

Percy is shiny and new again. His forearms and calves are bulbous and smooth, like metal, but his midsection and inner limbs are curiously flexible. His entire body is incredibly resilient-hours of welding and scraping with a chisel have caused no damage at all to him.

July 15, 21XX

I've had good luck adjusting the boy to the world so far. He doesn't eat food, obviously. I worry that he'll run out of power-whoever made his batteries probably died in the War.

Sometimes, his body becomes very hot. It doesn't bother him, but it makes him dangerous to others. With a great deal of caution, I have encouraged him to wade into the spring when this happens. It usually causes a great deal of steam and noise, but it cools him to manageable levels.

July 23, 21XX

I have been teaching Percy to hunt. He can hold a rifle with perfect stability. After a couple tries, he seems able to hit anything-he can adjust for wind, drop, and animal's movement even from several hundred meters away.

I wasn't able to teach him to use a bow-he stretched it to its limit, and then broke it. I laughed at his inability to grasp his own strength. I miss laughter.

September 26, 21XX

I have enrolled Percy at the local school. He seems to have a considerable knowledge bank, able to recognize simple things like trees and animals. He also has excellent command of our language. More interestingly, he has remarkable mathematical ability. He can calculate numbers faster than most kids can with calculators. When read stories, he is able to reproduce them perfectly, and optionally in the reader's own voice. Yet, he still responds to stories in an emotional manner, as a real child would.

Also, he is able to recall events perfectly, and seems incapable of lying.

Some of the kids are wary of him, due to his newness and undoubtedly because of his abilities. Most don't understand that he is a robot. This doesn't bother me. He can lead the others by example.

October 1, 21XX

I can't begin to understand the purpose of this robotic boy. Other kid's parents often ask me questions about him, which I am usually unable to answer. He seems mature for his age, and very friendly. When other boys make fun of him, he responds with innocent curiosity, not anger or sadness.

Some other people have inquired as to why I see it as necessary to teach an artificial intelligence elementary school etiquette. I politely avoid answering. He is as deserving of an education as anyone else, and he will one day contribute to society as much as anyone else. To deny him the opportunities of real people would be neglectful.

October 10, 21XX

An unfortunate thing happened today. While Percy and a few of his friends were out playing in the schoolyard, they were beset upon by a dog. The other boys petted him, but when Percy approached, he growled and lunged at him. Apparently, the dog bit his left arm. I checked for damage, and could find none; the dog, by comparison, suffered several broken teeth.

Mrs. Fields is a little angry that her dog now cannot protect her, but I told her that it was her fault for letting the simple beast off of his leash. And it was. In fact, I showed remarkable restraint, considering she let a dangerous animal onto a playground full of children. Some people have no shame whatsoever.

October 12, 21XX

Percy has introduced me to his new friends, Max and Josh. They're nice kids, but a little sad. One's fat, the other's thin. I personally don't understand why my son isn't more popular. At any rate, he seems to enjoy talking to them and playing ball with them. There's really no question to his physical superiority. Yet, these odd kids don't mind not being able to catch up to him as he tears across the muddy grass to their wicker-and-scrap goal, or kicks the ball so fast that it would knock them over even if they could intercept it.


	2. Chapter 2

October 29, 21XX

Murder has struck our poor town. Apparently, at 3:20 PM yesterday, Mr. Fink was killed just outside of his home by unknown assailants.

His body was found horribly burned, as if he was doused in gasoline and left to burn for hours. However, there was no sign of a struggle, and no one heard any screaming. Just one gunshot and a muffled thump.

The circumstances of his murder are unfortunate indeed-he was something of a hermit, living a good distance from everyone else, and his house was surrounded by tall wire fences to keep people out. He was also a vile-tempered drunkard, and had plenty enemies. Although a death is always a tragedy, I cannot say that I wouldn't be sadder if it had happened to someone else.

Knowing that someone in this small, secluded town is capable of something like that is extremely distressing. I fear for Percy. I want to keep him safe, away from the depredations of lawless monsters. I don't want to raise a boy in a terrible world.

November 2, 21XX

Today, I tried to sign Percy up for the school's ball team. They didn't want him. They said it was unfair, that he was too good.

TOO good? Why would they hold this against him? He transcends the limitations of human flesh. Why should that invalidate his achievements?

Why does someone have to be shaped by the bumbling, inefficient, time-consuming business of evolution to be human?

November 8, 21XX

Some of the older kids were being rude to Percy and his friends. They threw rocks at them and made verbal threats. I just know what one of them was Chet, that overgrown brat from several houses over. He's a bit taller and more muscular than the other kids, so he asserts his superiority by harassing him. Percy, by comparison, is leagues beyond this flesh-bag, but isn't anything but nice to people.

This isn't the first problem that Percy has had with bullies. The other day, he had several smears of what I suspected were mashed potatoes on his back. He has also come home with obscene words dyed onto his frame. I guess he just lets them do it. I had Ivan burn all of it off. Percy doesn't deserve this.

I have told him time and again to stop playing with Max and Josh, but he insists that they need him. He also sees to get along with them better, for whatever reason.

November 15, 21XX

Percy seems attached to a 13-year-old girl named Mary. This is good news to me. I was worried that his metallic body would make him repulsive to girls. I'd considered giving him a skin-like outer cover, but his forearms are too broad, as if they are concealing something. His lower legs are also broad, instead of narrow, as in human ankles are, which gives him the appearance of wearing boots. There was no satisfactory solution.

Apparently, this does not bother her. They talk to each other and eat together, thankfully, usually without his other "friends" around. This is a step in the right direction.

November 18, 21XX

More kids seem to be mistreating my son. I cannot imagine why. Why would someone have anything other than respect for someone who is polite and good at everything? They must be envious. Their biological limitations mean that they will only live for 70 more years at most, and will never be able to bend steel bars or calculate 3-digit multiplicities in a split second like Percy.

December 4, 21XX

I am perturbed by the fact that Mary's parents do not want her to see my boy anymore. They are worried that it will make her an outcast. Also, they fear what he might end up doing to her physically. Percy has long mastered his own body, and, hunting aside, has never harmed another living thing, intentionally or otherwise.

Percy expressed his sadness to me. I have explained to him that not every relationship works out. It is the reality of life, robot or not. Of course, I haven't gotten into the business of explaining him why he won't be able to have children in the future. Maybe his info-banks will tell him why.

December 9, 21XX

Today, there was a large circle of teenagers in the schoolyard. In the center was Chet, that insufferable whelp, striking my son on the head and face with a metal pipe. Percy didn't react-it probably didn't hurt him at all-but the act was, to me, horrific. That other kids would take pleasure in meaningless violence toward my only son is beyond reproach.

December 10, 21XX

I have decided that his casual reaction to other's hatred for him is unacceptable. Today, I told him to fight back, and stand up for himself. He seemed confused. I told him to respond with physical violence with a controlled measure of physical violence,

He nodded, then straightened his body, closed his eyes, and said "target threshold lowered". Strangely, it came out in a very monotonous, articulate, female voice, rather than his own. I thought maybe it was a joke. He's a clever boy, I admit. But he's never spoken in another voice except when prompted to.

December 12, 20XX

A caravan came in from the north. It was a junk salvager who had a variety of exotic technological gadgets, probably picked from ruins. Ivan and I examined it-most of it was useless by itself, and pretty much trinkets to sell to the gullible.

I showed him Percy. He was very interested in him. Apparently, his team had never come close to finding or assembling an intact robot. He offered to buy him for about half of the scrap he had. I firmly refused.

Sadly, none of the few working batteries he had were compatible with Percy.


	3. Chapter 3

December 20, 20XX

My hands are shaking as I type. Three more murders. This time, all schoolchildren, ages 11 to 14. They were found in an alley behind the school.

Just like with Mr. Fink, their bodies were incinerated, and there were no reports of suspicious gang activity. It would have taken a large number of people to kill three teenagers so quickly and so thoroughly, but nobody had any leads. The entire school was searched for matches and other incendiary materials.

I have decided not to let Percy go back to that school, at least until the Police found out and apprehended who was responsible. I cannot let my son out of my sight with such despicable murderers on the loose.

December 21, 20XX

A new development in the Fink murder has come to light. The Police have found a bullet on Mr Fink's property. It matches his own rifle-it is believed to have been the shot fired at his assailant. The tip was flat, as if it had struck something hard.

December 23, 21XX

The Police came by my house today. They wanted to talk to Percy. I wouldn't let them. I locked my door.

I haven't left my house since. Somehow, I doubt that they demanded to talk to all the OTHER kids at the school. Why couldn't they leave my son alone? What would he have known about these grisly incidents?

Why couldn't the world leave him alone?

December 24, 21XX

Max and the skinny kid came over today, wondering if Percy was okay. I told them that he was fine, and that they should leave. Percy was anxious. He wanted to see his friends.

December 25, 21XX

I have decided to hide Percy. I broke open my floorboards, dug out a shallow trench, and told him to rest there a while. He was scared, so I hugged him and assured that he had done nothing wrong. I have since bolted the boards back in place and moved my workbench over them.

I can hear him quietly calling "dad" all night.

Please let this end. Please let them stop knocking on my door.

December 26, 21XX

A shocking thing has happened. It has explained much, but raised many more questions.

Late at night, I heard a growling and a scratching. Then there was a chopping noise at my door.

My workbench fell onto its side. By floorboards cracked and were pushed aside.

My door splintered open. I heard a loud voice, and briefly saw the silhouette of a man holding an axe.

Then there was a blinding flash of light and a deafening explosion. Hot air filled the room.

Percy's hand was gone. There was no hand, just a glowing hole resembling a huge gun barrel. Where the officer and his dog stood, there was now only glowing, white-hot ash.

I didn't dare stop him. And then, for some reason I could not fathom, he walked over to the officer's remains and put his left hand on it. His arm began to glow. I then heard the same eerie, robotic woman's voice say "new weapon acquired".

Suddenly, his right forearm transformed from the alien-looking weapon to a large, double-barreled revolver. I looked down to see a similar revolver on the ground; the officer's.

"What are you?" I asked him. He asked me what I meant. I refrained from further questioning.

December 27, 20XX

It is very difficult for me to write this.

It is only a few hours from the last incident.

I am with Percy, and am standing before the Great Western Divide. It is steep, high, and filled with sharp, craggy rocks. Percy does not understand why he is here. I assure him that it is just an exciting late-night hike.

Despite the fact that he is oddly unshaken by the last few days, he knows that something is wrong. Maybe it's the way I'm standing. Maybe it's the tears I'm trying to hold back.

I move with him to the edge. He recognizes the danger it poses to me, and advises me to stop. Wrapping my arms around him in a final hug, I lift him off the ground and hurl him forward. I pray that the huge, dark maw consumes this ancient relic of war.

Farewell, my son.


End file.
